Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

Events refer to local (ie. Melbourne-based, Australian) events that contribute to urban sustainability. Event topics often refer to themes such as water, food, energy, and urban design and built form. Sustainable Melbourne strongly encourages environmental organisations and institutions to post their own events. To do so visit the “How to use this site” page and follow the prompts.Move the mouse pointer over a date to show the events for that day. Days highlighted in red have events posted to them.

Announcing the premiere of a brand new documentary on marine plastics in Port Phillip Bay, produced by an International team of filmmakers in conjunction with Port Phillip BayKeeper.

This documentary is an expose of the extent of plastic pollution in our beloved Port Phillip Bay.

Film synposis: After hearing about expansive amounts of plastic in every major ocean, Port Phillip Baykeeper Neil Blake finds the sands of his local beaches are turning into a kind of micro-plastic confetti. In his journey to measure how far the age of plastics has invaded the bay, Neil discovers a growing community striving to protect Port Phillip’s health for generations to come.

Cultivating Sustainability is a 1-day workshop which provides sustainability advocates with insights, models and tools to engage and inspire people for sustainable action. This workshop will assist you to

This workshop will assist you to:

Identify what people need in order to embrace sustainability Target your efforts and resources to the points of most leverage Incorporate psychological principles to your sustainability programs Communicate about sustainability more effectively Meet others who are dealing with similar challenges and share ideas and success stories.

Presented by Tim Cotter, a psychologist specialising in the psychology of sustainability.

When: Wed. November 27th, 2013. 9.30am – 4.00pm

Where: Melbourne, Venue to be confirmed

Online Registration and Further Info at www.awake.com.au

Costs:

Earlybirds! Register and pay before the end of October and receive a 20% discount

Held in support of the United Nations Zero Hunger Challenge, this seminar is part of our Sustainability Leadership Series and seeks to build momentum for collective action on food security and sustainable agriculture post Rio +20.

Bringing together experts and practitioners from government, business, civil society, farmers’ organisations, research and academia, the seminar seeks to provide a platform for shared learning and discussion on Australia’s role in addressing the global food security challenge and advancing sustainable agricultural practices.

It will highlight the challenges and opportunities that Australian government, businesses, and NGOs face as they contribute to developing and promoting sustainable food supply chains that increase food production, preserve natural resources and fight hunger at the local, national and global level.

Follow National Geographic photographer James Balog across the Arctic documenting the world’s changing glaciers and gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet.

Central to this film is the belief that we cannot divorce civilisation from nature. This vision is rendered in James Balog’s extraordinary photographs of ice and his compilation of video footage of glaciers melting at an unnatural rate. The film argues that global warming promises to turn sublime beauty on its head.

“This portrait of a man on a mission moves us, not by showing us what we’ve already lost, but what’s still at stake.”

Since May 2013, a new wave of plastic pollution has been uncovered by Melbourne BayKeeper volunteers in the form of ‘nurdles’. Hundreds of these plastic pre-production pellets have been found regularly on St Kilda Beaches, and more recently, in streams flowing into the Bay.

EcoCentre Director and Port Phillip BayKeeper, Neil Blake, will give a talk about this spreading problem and then lead people on a plastic pollution field survey.

We need ongoing support to measure plastic pollution in the Bay. The aim is to clearly show there’s an ongoing issue and to call on government agencies and plastics manufacturers to be part of the solution.

These new techniques and the challenges posed by them will be discussed by Mark Ogge of the Australia Institute and Monash University’s Dr Gavin Mudd. The meeting will include an overview of the CSG industry, what the infrastructure looks like, the scale of this infrastructure and the economic impacts of mining booms including gas. Both speakers have an in-depth knowledge of the topic.

On Friday 20th September at 12:30pm come and hear author Greg Foyster speak about his inspiring pedal-powered detour from the rat race – Changing Gears – at The Sun Bookshop in Yarraville.

Changing Gears is a high-spirited adventure book charting Greg Foyster’s remarkable, life-transforming cycling challenge he undertook with his girlfriend Sophie from Hobart to Cairns on a quest to find out if we can be happier with less.

Cycling for more than 8 months and 6500 kilometres, Greg and Sophie conducted over 80 in-depth interviews with lone visionaries and engaged communities alike, all seeking a more sustainable life. There’s the barefoot monk who walked from Gold Coast to Townsville with only three robes and an alms bowl, the man who lived in the bush for 20 years without electricity and went on ‘historical treks’ using 18th century tools and clothing, the ‘modern swagman’ who wandered the highway for three decades, and many more DIY downshifters with fascinating stories to tell.

Greg tells a riveting yarn – engaging, self-effacing and with many laugh-out-loud moments. The 6586km bike expedition was a million miles from Greg’s comfortable former lifestyle as an ad man – the furthest he’d cycled in one sitting was 50km and the longest he’d been in a tent was three days at a music festival. Along the way he confronted his own character flaws, contended with bum blisters, tasted road kill and got by on only two changes of clothing.

Greg and Sophie are now on a 60-day, 2000-kilometre pedal-powered book tour, visiting 30 bookshops from Melbourne through regional VIC, ACT & NSW before finishing in Sydney in mid November. Don’t miss out on this chance to hear Greg and Sophie talk about their fascinating stories of life on the road.

On Sunday 8th September, Sustainable House Day will be celebrating its 12th year. The event will continue to showcase some of Australia’s most sustainable homes to the public as millions of Australians continue to embrace renewable energy, recycling, and other practices suitable to their lifestyles.

150 private houses and display houses featuring a variety of sustainable ideas will open their doors to the public. Homes are open from 10am-4pm and will be showcasing environmentally sustainable design, innovative use of materials, and homes that have invested in renewable energy, recycling and other sustainable living practices. Homes will feature experts in areas of green living and energy-efficient products.

Check out the Sustainable House Day website to find open houses around Australia, or to read more about the different ways that people make their homes more sustainable.

Dr Scott Watkins (Stream Leader, Organic Photovoltaics, Materials Science and Engineering at CSIRO), is developing next generation organic solar cells. He will talk about the new manufacturing facility in Melbourne printing solar cells at the size of an A3 sheet of paper, which are one of the largest in the world.

The Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium (VICOSC) has developed processes that use spray coating, reverse gravure and slot-dye coating as well as screen printing, and the technology that has gone from producing solar cells the size of a fingernail to 10cm square in three years. Dr Watkins says the new $200,000 printer has allowed the VICOSC team to jump to producing solar cells on sheets 30cm wide – right here in Melbourne!

The flexible, organic PV cells have applications in consumer devices and small integrated electronics, and into the future, they could be coated onto buildings, into windows and on roofs. Dr Watkins will join us to explain organic PV technology and how the printing process works.